~ Author, Stay-at-Home Dad. Available for Office Parties.

Monthly Archives: September 2014

Okay, we’re not actually running from Julie. What we are doing is celebrating the release of her latest New Adult Paranormal Romance, RUNNING AWAY (The Shinigami series, #2). It’s out today, from Books of the Dead Press. Get it from Amazon or your seller of choice.

As I am a naturally lazy person, I’m pretty much going to dump all of Julie’s press materials here. What you need to do is go buy her book. If you haven’t read the first in the series, RUNNING HOME, do it now.

Now that you’ve read it, here’s the cover for the sequel, RUNNING AWAY:

And here’s the book blurb:

Eliza Morgan is desperate to escape the horrors of her mortal life and understand why death follows her, leaving only one man, Nicholas French, in its wake. He’s the one she loves, the one she resents, and the one fated to make her legendary among the Shinigami– an ancient order of vampires with a “heroic” duty to kill. He’s also decaying before her eyes, and it’s her fault. On the ghostlike mountaintop in Japan that the vampires consider home, Eliza will be guided by the all-powerful Master for her transition to Shinigami death god. When Eliza discovers that sacrificing her destiny will save Nicholas, she’s not afraid to defy fate and make it so—even when Nicholas’s salvation kills her slowly with torturous, puzzle-piece visions that beg her to solve them. Both Nicholas and his beloved Master fight her on veering from the path to immortality, but Eliza won’t be talked out of her plan, even if it drives the wedge between Nicholas and her deeper. Allying with the fiery rebel, Kieran, who does what he wants and encourages her to do the same, and a mysterious deity that only she can see, Eliza must forge her own path through a maze of ancient traditions and rivalries, shameful secrets and dark betrayals to take back the choices denied her and the Shinigami who see her as their savior. To uncover the truth and save her loved ones, Eliza will stop at nothing, including war with fate itself.

And here’s what you need to know about Julie:

Julie Hutchings is a pizza hoarding, coffee swilling, beer guzzling, karate loving book geek with a love of all things creepy and obscure. She lives in America’s Hometown of Plymouth, Massachusetts with her hilarious husband and two genius children.

It’s funny, because I just started this blog but am already slacking on posts. And it looks like I’ll be slacking for the next couple of months, too. But I swear, I’ve got a really awesome, totally legitimate reason for my slackitude. That reason?

#PitchWars.

What is #PitchWars, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a contest in which unpublished writers can, if they’re lucky, get mentored by published authors. Actually, let me borrow from the contest’s host, author Brenda Drake:

“What is Pitch Wars? Is it another contest? Oh, no, it’s so much better. Pitch Wars is a contest where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer suggestions to shine it up for agents. The mentors also critique the writer’s pitch to get it ready for the agent round. Mentors also pick one alternate each in case their writer drops out of the contest. Writers send applications (query and first chapter of manuscript) to the four mentors that best fit their work. The mentors then read all their applications and choose the writer they want to mentor for the next two months. Then we hold an agent round with over a dozen agents making requests.”

Sounds awesome, right? It is. It’s an amazing opportunity. And you know what? I got in!

I submitted my YA fantasy, THE WATCHMAKER, which made it into the Amazon Breakthrough Novelist Award quarterfinals earlier this year. Since then, I’d had it professionally edited and started querying literary agents. The rejection letters arrived in droves. But such is querying. On average, a writer can expect dozens upon dozens of rejections. I actually got a request from a small press editor who wanted to read my full manuscript, but that scored me a rejection, too. I was bummed, because it was my first full request. But it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, because I got the rejection right as the #PitchWars submission window opened. (Having a full request out for consideration would have prohibited me from entering the contest.)

Over 1,200 writers entered #PitchWars this year. There were 75 mentors to choose from. Of the 4 mentors I submitted to, 3 asked to read my full manuscript before the list of mentees was announced, which in and of itself was fantastic. When the list was posted last week, I was floored to learn a mentor had picked me to work with!

Her name is Meredith McCardle. Her YA book, The Eighth Guardian, has spies and time travel and flat-out rocks. (Yes, I’ve already read it. You should go buy it right now.) For the past few days we’ve been bouncing around ideas about ways to revamp the overall plot of my book. It’s going to mean a fair amount of rewrites, but I am super excited by all the changes we’re making. Hopefully the agents agree come the agent round in November.